Creeper



D. BRIGHTWELL.

CREEPER. APPLICATION FILED ocr. I4, 1919.

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'Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

DALLAS BRIGjI-ITWELL, OF FRANKFURT, KENTUCKY.

CREEPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application led October 14, 1919. Serial No. 330,559.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, DALLAS BRIGHTWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Frankfort, in the county of Franklin and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Creepers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ice Creepers adapted to be attached to boots and shoes and the principal object of the invention is to provide a creeper made of flexible material and provided with adjustable means so that it .may be adjusted to different sizes of shoes.

Another object of the invention is to provide the creeper with a sole and heel part with lugs on each part for penetrating the ice or snow and thus securing a irm grip of both the heel and sole of the foot.

The invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a shoe with my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a view of a modification. j

In these views 1 indicates the sole part of the device which is made to conform to the shape of the sole of a shoe. The toe end of this piece is bent upwardly and then inwardly as at 2 and the inwardly bent part terminates in a pair of points 3, which will engage the toe end of the sole of the shoe, as shown in Fig. 1. The instep portion of this piece gradually tapers off to a rectangular part 4. This rectangular part is bent over upon itself to provide a loop 5 to receive a strap 6, the end of the bent over part being fastened to the other part. Adjacent the toe end this sole piece is provided with the slots 7 to receive an additional strap to pass around the toe of the shoe, when such strap is desired or necessary. A plurality of parallel slits 8 are formed in the sole piece and the metal between these slits is pressed outwardly so that a spring metal strap 9 may pass through the said slits. This strap is connected to or formed with the heel plate 10, the strap having a right angular extend ing part 11 which connects it with the heel plate so that said heel plate is below the plane of the sole piece. Upwardly extending ears 12 are formed on the inner edge of the heel plate to engage the inner edge of the heel.

It will thus be seen that the heel plate is adjustably connected with the sole piece by the spring strap and due to the flexibility of the material from which the sole piece is made the said strap will be frictionally held algainst movement by the metal between the s its.

The sole piece and the heel plate are provided with pointed lugs or spurs 13 for engaging the snow or ice and thus prevent slipping.

The strap is provided with a suitable buckle so that its ends may be secured to gether and said strap is adapted to fasten around the back of the shoe as shown in Fig. 1. The loop 5 permits the strap to be adjusted.

lhen the device is to be used on ladies7 shoes the extension 11 is made long enough to properly space the heel plate from the sole piece to accommodate the high heels of such shoes.

For ladies narrow toed shoes that have soles too thin for the regular toe piece 8, Fig. 2, to properly hook over and catch to the sole of the shoe, then the toe piece 2, Fig. 4c, is straight instead of being bent over, so that the toe of such shoes will butt against it after passing under the stationary strap 13, Fig. 4f. Fig. 4 also shows this stationary toe strap 13, Fig. a, suitably connected with the toe piece and adapted to pass over the toe of the shoe.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent.

I desire it to be understood that I may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Vhat I claim is A device of the class described comprising a sole plate having a plurality of slits therein with the metal between the slits forced upwardly, a heel plate, a spring strap having a right angular extension oon- Iieoted with the heel plate, said spring strap engaging said slits and passed under the metal between the slits, a loop formed at the inner end of the sole plate and a strap engaging said loop, a portion of the spring strap resting,- upon the loop so that the securing strap assists in holding the heel portion in place.

In testimony whereof I aix Iny signature.

DALLAS BRIGHTWELL. 

